Chargers find a quarterback willing to join them

The Chargers didn’t have to look far for their stable-pony quarterback.

After veteran Kyle Boller retired shortly after his arrival, they were looking for a temporary fill-in for injured Charlie Whitehurst.

They found one in Kevin O’Connell, who took a physical Sunday night and will sign today, according to Scott Bair of the North County Times.

O’Connell’s a local product, having graduated from San Diego State. He’ll take part in their next practice Tuesday. Whitehurst is expected to miss two weeks after spraining his medial collateral ligament last week.

O’Connell was a third-round pick of the Patriots in 2008, and has bounced from the Lions to the Dolphins and a stint with the Jets before his homecoming.

Since Whitehurst was injured, Philip Rivers and Jarrett Lee were left to take all the reps, so O’Connell presents a needed body.

The Patriots for years have dropped down in the draft to get more picks. The last one was QB Mallett in the third round. This shows the Patriots are far from perfect. In fact, they have had the most disappointing drafts of all the teams the last 5 years.

They didn’t want to bring in McNabb because they’re still trying to get the grass to grow back where he threw all those dirt balls when they played the Vikes last season… That and the 15 yards passing he had….

O’Connell didn’t suck when he was hanging around in New England. In fact, in the early weeks of the short-lived (ugh) Matt Cassel era some of us were calling for him to start. He was never worth a 3rd round pick though.

Who? God help the Chargers if Rivers get hurt.
But then again, the same can be said if the starting QB goes down in about 90% of other NFL teams as well. The backup QB in a grueling 16 game season becomes a very important position. Just ask the Bears.